Over the past week, as anticipated, the Turkish flat steel spot market has been impacted by the ongoing slackness of trade and the negative sentiment in the hot rolled coil (HRC) market. As a result, downward price movements have been seen in the market, particularly from larger traders. Although in previous weeks larger traders attempted to maintain higher price levels, this week has seen a bigger price cut from larger traders, while slight decreases have been reported from other traders.
“Unfortunately, demand is really low. We have no choice but to lower the price in order to meet the current market conditions,” a larger trader told SteelOrbis.
Over the past week, workable domestic hot rolled sheet prices have been quoted at $635-640/mt ex-warehouse, down from $640-660/mt ex-warehouse last week. According to the sources, while bigger traders have chosen to decrease offers by $25/mt to around $635/mt ex-warehouse, smaller and medium-sized traders have preferred to remain at $640/mt ex-warehouse.
Similarly, in the cold rolled sheet market, the majority of traders have reported lower prices at $750-775/mt ex-warehouse, against $750-790/mt ex-warehouse last week.
Nonetheless, certain traders are trying to offer hot and cold rolled sheets at $650/mt ex-warehouse and $780/mt ex-warehouse, which is difficult given the present market conditions.